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WASHINGTON — Ex-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Sunday he has concerns that local terrorist groups or militias could pick up ideas from violent groups overseas.

“I agree with Sen. Lieberman, this is not of the order of magnitude of what we see global terrorists,” Chertoff said on Meet the Press. “But look,the fact that people can get on the Internet and they can see the tactics that are being used in Iraq and Afghanistan creates a risk that those will be copycatted here.”

“In fact we’ve see that … in northern Mexico, the criminal groups which are not politically motivated have adopted beheadings and other tactics of terrorism as part of pushing their agenda against President Calderon.”

His comments came in response to a discussion about militias like the Michigan-based Christian militia which allegedly had plans to us IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) — used by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan — to kill police officers at a funeral in Michigan. Nine members of the group, the Hutaree, have been charged in Detroit in the plot.